On a whim, Brian and I decided to take a romantic getaway over the 4th of July holiday since we were both off of work. One of the girls in our ward, who had just graduated, offered to stay with our kids over the weekend. We looked at different options all over Asia, but finally settled on taking the ferry boat from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan (which is on the island of Kyushu). We both had to work excruciating hours so we had ver little time to plan. We got the ferry tickets, reserved 4 hotels, printed off some train/bus schedules and packed two ruck sacks and prayed for the best. The morning we left, we had our bags, a basic itinerary, some cash and headed out hand in hand to catch a taxi to the train station. We took a taxi to a train to a bus to a ferry to a taxi to train. Yeah, so a lot of travel, but it was pretty exciting to be backpacking Asia with my favorite person in the world. . . and not get lost!
After arriving in Fukuoka, we took a high-speed train to Nagasaki where we stayed in a little local inn near Chinatown. We found an excellent restaurant with fantastic tempura, then we took off to explore the city of Nagasaki before bed.
The above picture is of Brian inside a Japanese pachinko center. Basically, it's like slot machines, but it is pinball/video game gambling. The noise is deafening and the cigarette smoke is thick and suffocating. We went in out of curiosity, but were dismayed by what we found. The people were so entranced by their gambling that they seemed to be shells of themselves. We left with the creepiest feeling, even worse than a Vegas casino.
Chinatown in Japan. . . I guess they're everywhere.
After arriving in Fukuoka, we took a high-speed train to Nagasaki where we stayed in a little local inn near Chinatown. We found an excellent restaurant with fantastic tempura, then we took off to explore the city of Nagasaki before bed.
The above picture is of Brian inside a Japanese pachinko center. Basically, it's like slot machines, but it is pinball/video game gambling. The noise is deafening and the cigarette smoke is thick and suffocating. We went in out of curiosity, but were dismayed by what we found. The people were so entranced by their gambling that they seemed to be shells of themselves. We left with the creepiest feeling, even worse than a Vegas casino.
Chinatown in Japan. . . I guess they're everywhere.
The next morning we went bright and early to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
I remember studying all about Nagasaki and Hiroshima in grade school. One of the stories I read was that people were incinerated, but their shadows were left behind. I didn't understand how that worked until we saw and read all the exhibits at the museum. In short, the radiation/heat waves traveled in a radiant pattern and one side of someone or something would be burnt up. That means that anything on the other side would have been protected and not charred. So, it wasn't so much a shadow as "not burned" pattern in the shape of the object in the foreground. Below you can see where plants had been incinerated, as well as the fence around the plants, but the space where the plants were was protected--leaving a shadow or imprint forever.
The pictures in the museum as well as the artifacts are surreal. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the vast devestation that occurred in this city almost 70 years ago. I found that the Japanese government presented an interesting and thought-provoking view of nuclear devestation and nuclear war. After having been to the Hanoi Hilton and reading such blatant propoganda about the Vietnam War, I guess I was expecting something a little more anti-American. But it wasn't like that at all. In fact, the argument was made both against the use of the bomb and for the use of the bomb. The Japanese also took a very apologetic stance toward the Koreans and others they had abused before and during World War II. The overarching discourse presented was that now that we know what nuclear weapons can do, we must do all in our power to keep peace in the world. Easier said than done, but after seeing the devestation wreaked on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, I can only hope it never happens again.
Brian at Ground Zero.
Our last stop in Nagasaki was the Peace Park. It was beautiful. Nagasaki is a remarkable city.
I remember studying all about Nagasaki and Hiroshima in grade school. One of the stories I read was that people were incinerated, but their shadows were left behind. I didn't understand how that worked until we saw and read all the exhibits at the museum. In short, the radiation/heat waves traveled in a radiant pattern and one side of someone or something would be burnt up. That means that anything on the other side would have been protected and not charred. So, it wasn't so much a shadow as "not burned" pattern in the shape of the object in the foreground. Below you can see where plants had been incinerated, as well as the fence around the plants, but the space where the plants were was protected--leaving a shadow or imprint forever. 
The pictures in the museum as well as the artifacts are surreal. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the vast devestation that occurred in this city almost 70 years ago. I found that the Japanese government presented an interesting and thought-provoking view of nuclear devestation and nuclear war. After having been to the Hanoi Hilton and reading such blatant propoganda about the Vietnam War, I guess I was expecting something a little more anti-American. But it wasn't like that at all. In fact, the argument was made both against the use of the bomb and for the use of the bomb. The Japanese also took a very apologetic stance toward the Koreans and others they had abused before and during World War II. The overarching discourse presented was that now that we know what nuclear weapons can do, we must do all in our power to keep peace in the world. Easier said than done, but after seeing the devestation wreaked on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, I can only hope it never happens again.
Brian at Ground Zero.
Our last stop in Nagasaki was the Peace Park. It was beautiful. Nagasaki is a remarkable city.
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